4/30/2012

the book:"Every war has turning points and every person too.”Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.

first thoughts:

I have already read another Meg Rosoff book, Just in Case, and decided that I wanted to read her debut, How I live now, too. Her writing style and the way her characters look at the world in her books is just so interesting, and I can't quite understand it...

my review:During a (?) war, Daisy lives with her cousins on a farm, hiding for the war, and hoping that the moment the war will come for them is still far away. They build a happy life, even though the entire country is suffering. They are happy. Or at least, until the war arrives at the doorstep of their farm.Daisy and her cousins now are forced to split up in groups, and they have only one thing they should do; stay alive. While the entire country is being destroyed, they are on the run for the mass destruction. But being on the run isn't that easy, you find out during this book.The main character, Daisy, really have me the urge of trying to figure her out. But it was impossible to do that. In a positive way :) Daisy is a very complicated character at some points of the book, but she can also be just another teenage girl. She has a very strong will, and won't let the war or anything else take her down.Then there are all cousins, each of them so different, and yet so alike. All of them are great and highly developed characters that you could see were really thought about by the author before she started writing the book.Then there was the oh-so-confusing plot of this book. A new war present-time? I tried reading this book in a bus while I was distracted from everywhere, and that just didn't work. You really have to focus to understand this book, and even if you focus it is hard, or at least it was for me. You understand what is happening, but all the time it made me think - why would the author write about a fictional but so realistic war? What does she mean with the characters and the way they look at the world? etc. - and of course it's great if you have to think with a book, but it annoyed me a little that I couldn't find the answers to some of my questions :SMeg Rosoff has a special writing style. No apostrophes are used during dialogues, no other reading signs (?) are used as well. Often this is very irritating, because you really have to pay attention to see who says what to whom.This novel was very short, too short at some points, and the pace of the story was quick. Not too quick, but I would have preferred it slower, if you know what I mean.

An unique story about life during a war, with astonishing characters that have a different look on the world, which makes the whole book nothing like I have ever read before. A wonderful debut, which is not only for teens!

the book:When everything you believed about yourself is a lie, how do you unlock the truth… Evangeline Theopolis has nightmares about the violent deaths of women she has never met. Her single mother, Olivia, suffers delusions she can’t hide. And Malledy, a brilliant young man, may have a disease that will leave him paralyzed and insane. Their lives are about to collide. On Evangeline’s 16th birthday her mother gives her a necklace with an antique key charm—a family heirloom, though no one knows what the key unlocks. Everything changes. Her mom is hospitalized. Her godmother attempts murder. An ancient Order tries to kill Evangeline, and a lethal sect to kidnap her. Nothing makes sense—especially Evangeline’s own face, which has morphed from geeky to eerily stunning; the ancient key that feels strangely alive against her skin; and the magical abilities she begins to possess. Evangeline must use her wits and supernatural powers to fight her deadly adversaries and discover her true identity. But can she accept who she really is and save the world?

first of all; Thanks a lot to the author, Nancy. She just contacted me via goodreads and gifted me her book, which is so awefully nice of her! THANK YOU NANCY! You should check this book out on amazon. go to the page of this book with THIS LINK *paperback edition* Below you will also find an interview with her. My first author interview ever :o Enjoy!

my review:

I love anything that has to do with mythology, so I had very high expectations of it. Luckily, it lived up to my expectations.

First of all, my first impression. 1) Greek mythology, 2) amazing cover 3) nice author - this book has to me freaking fantastic!

The blurb of this book intigued me, and I instantly started reading it. I couldn't put it down, and I had finished it in a couple of hours. I read it in 2 sits, which hardly happens to me, so that's a very good thing ^^

The main character, Evangeline, is just your average high school girl. Not the prettiest, not the most confident, or the smartest of them all. Nothing special. Or is she? She is given a key on her 16th birthday. And that key will change her life, forever. How can her mothers precious key change her appearance? how can it give her enemies? The necklace brings up some difficult questions and massive trouble. The unknown has to become known to Evangeline.

Evangeline is a great character. Just a normal girl, as I said before. Not a silly girl, like some YA-book girls are, but a real character, with thoughts and reasonable feelings, which weren't annoying at all. I hate it when main characters in books annoy me, so this was perfect!

This book kept me 100% interested from the first word till the end of the prologue. A real pageturner, as I might as well call it. The editing had been done well, a nice writing style, all of it was one piece of awesomeness

A lovely story for every book lover - and even for the ones that don't like mythology at all - which includes amazing characters, lots of drama and a huge amount of action.

rating:

5 stars - definitely recommended!

INTERVIEW1. Why did you start writing, and when did you decide that your book was going to be a young adult mythology novel? I started writing when I was a kid - short stories, poems, jokes (bad ones). When I graduated from college I got a "real" job working for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I wrote stories about lion trainers, trapeze artists, clowns and elephants. Super fun, but I realized that I didn't want to write about other people - I wanted to write my own stories.

I always loved mythology and one day the idea just sort of came to me... What if the myth of Pandora was real? What if not all of the Furies inside the Box were released? What if someone protected the box through the centuries? Who would that be? And on and on... It became clear to me that person should be a teenaged girl so making Pandora's Key a young adult novel was the logical thing to do.

2. What was your favourite thing about Pandora's Key? My single, favorite thing about Pandora's Key is that the hero is a sixteen-year-old girl. Evangeline is flawed, empathetic, kick-ass, and has only begun to explore her supernatural powers.

3. While writing, do you like to listen to music or not? if yes, what kind of music? I do! The type depends on whether I'm writing or editing. If I'm writing I like songs I know - like Adele, Joss Stone, Dave Matthews, even Eminem. When I'm editing, I can listen to anything.

4. What is it that inspired you so much about the story of Pandora?Well, the "true" story of Pandora made me mad. I mean, one woman is blamed for ALL the bad things that happened to Mankind - plagues, disasters... you name it! It's not fair because the original Pandora is set up by the Gods, given unrelenting curiosity and a golden box - of course she opens it! My story of Pandora is different because one woman actually SAVES Mankind from the worst of the Furies because she's SMART. I find THAT inspirational;-)

5. Which of the Greek Mythological gods and godesses intrigues you most? and why? There are so many! I love Cronus because the guy was so powerful yet so threatened by his children that he ATE them! I love Zeus because he was the King of the Gods yet he was so threatened by lesser Gods that he created elaborate punishments for them. And I think Athena is super cool - she's brilliant, gorgeous, wise, and both powerful in war and in peace.

6. What is your favourite myth? Right now, because they play a part in The Key to Tartarus, Book Two of The Key Trilogy, I like the Dirae. They're three Goddesses that are both beautiful and horrific looking and together they avenge crimes against women.

7. Roman mythology or Greek mythology? Whichever one works best for the purposes of my story:-)

8. Hera or Zeus? Definitely Zeus. The guy has mad skills but he's so twisted that, as a writer, you can have a great time manipulating him:-)

want to know more about the author? go to her site, http://nancyrichardsonfischer.com/

Can love really heal all things? If Sam Carroll hadn't shown up, she might have been able to get to her mother in time. Instead, Allie Everly finds herself at a funeral, mourning the loss of her beloved mother. She is dealt another blow when, a few hours later, she is sent from Tennessee to Maine to become the daughter of Miss Beatrice Lovell, a prim woman with a faith Allie cannot accept. Poetry and letters written to her mother become the only things keeping Allie's heart from hardening completely. But then Sam arrives for the summer, and with him comes many confusing emotions, both toward him and the people around her. As World War II looms, Allie will be forced to decide whether hanging on to the past is worth losing her chance to be loved

first thoughts:Thanks a lot to Zondervan publishers and Netgalley for givin me the oppotunity to read this book. I had heard great things about it, and it lived up to my expectations :) And the cover is great, right?my review:Allie is just the average teen girl, or at least she is from the outside. When I got to know more about her complicated family situation, I immediately got a lot of respect for her. I would never be able to take care of my mother, live my own life, and all of that while I have my own portion of drama and problems. Then there is the other important character, Sam. He is that boy next door that is also your friend. And even though you might hate him sometimes, he is the one that you love unconditionally. I found the plot of this book rather interesting. It was set during the second world war, and that is something that I always find pretty depressing, but actually it wasn't. I haven't read a lot of books that were set during the second world war ánd were set in America. Most of the WW2 books I have read were about the war in Europe. The war didn't sound that bad in America in this book, which of course was mainly because the book wasn't about the war at all...The story in this book was written great, and it was all very easy and enjoyable to read, so that's a great thing! The characters weren't annoying. Only the stubbornness of Allie was irritating in some parts of the book, but it was her main charactersistic, so I completely understood it :)The pace of the book was great, and easy to keep up with. Also it was great that every chapter began with a Emily Dickinson quote. I like poetry, even though I don't understand it most of the times *sigh*Final thoughts:a lovely romantic story with amazing characters that most teenage girls will find themselves in.rating: 3.5 starsxo Mar

When
the hot-tempered Han Hye Won accidentally insults the handsome jjang of Han Hwa
Go, Sun Woo Bin decides to pay her a visit...with his entire motorcycle gang,
ready to see some blood. So how does that lead
up to a kiss and the infamous captain begging for a date? Do you want to try?

Source:
Esthétique

Review:

It all starts in a fake relationship, but (as
you probably had expected) the relation between Sun Woo Bin and Han Hye Won
grows out into real love, but a lot of serious things happen to Han Hye Won
because her boyfriend is a jjang.

I quite liked the manhwa (when I finally got
the story), though it was a quite common story about a beautiful girl falling
in love with a gangster/delinquent (if you like this kind of stories I would
recomment Koizora and Akuma de sourou). The annoying thing is that it's really
confusing (especially at the beginning of the story) and it's all a bit rushed,
especially the end, which I really hated, because I think it went a bit like
this: ''Happy endings are too mainstream... why don't we let somebody die in
the end? Hmmm, which one should we choose... the main characters? Nooo, they
are too important that's too sad... Hmmm how about this one? He's quite
important but not too important so the reader will be sad but not too sad and
so it won't have a real happy ending. That's perfect!'' WELL F#$%^& YOU
THAT WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER THAT YOU JUST DECIDED TO KILL YOU @&$H***. But the art was very pretty :) Anyway, that brings me to my lowest rating so far,

Rating:

2 stars

Some
things about Manhwa for non-manga readers :P :

Manhwa is a Korean cartoon or comic. There
are lots of them in all kind of different genres. Of most Manhwa's there is a new chapter released every month,
so that's why some are ongoing (it also can be that the translation group is a
bit slow. DON'T EVER GET ANGRY BECAUSE OF THAT THOUGH! Manhwa's are translated
by volunteers, and not very much people speak both English and Korean well
enough to translate them. If your bothered by it, join such a group! They are
always looking for new members! Also editors and cleaners are needed!).

some
terms:

Shoujo= Manga for mostly teenage girls (it
can be very childish, it can be really mature)

Shounen= Manga for mostly teenage boys
(example: Naruto )

Josei= Manga for older women (the manga site
says: late teenage and adult audiences, this is usually because the characters
in the manga are not in high school anymore, this doesn't mean it's not fun to
read if you are younger)

Seinen= Manga for older men (also for late
teenage and adult audiences, also usually fun to read if you're younger)

School life= is sometimes quite interesting
because the japanese school life seems very different than what I am used to

I read this book for the second time, and I still loved it, and decided to review it. Read it in 2 languages now, and I must say that English was the best one, as usual :) Also, there is a movie coming *hopefully...*^^ The cover of this book is so pretty! It's one of my all-time favourites :D I already reviewed #3 in the series, Forever.

the book: the cold.Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human—and Grace must fight to keep him—even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

my review:

This is one of those series that appears to have haters and super-lovers, but nothing in between of that. So I'm breaking that 'rule' and become one of those in-between'ers...

The whole romantic love story totally kind of freaked me out at the beginning, when the girl is in love with a freaking wolf, but turned out to me ok when she fell in love with the boy. Actually, Grace was my main problem *and actually one of the only problems I had with this book* that bothered me. She seems Bella-ish in the first piece of the book. When you later find out that her character has depth and isn't annoying and whiny at all, she is a great character, but still...

Sam, the wolf, is a totally loveable character, and I , of course, fell for him :s Really, he is one of those YA boys that isn't bad boyish, which is great. The best thing about the romance and characters in this book was that there is NO LOVE TRIANGLE *yeah, it's true, this book is truly amazing on that point* How great is that?! Thumbs up, Maggie Stiefvater!

The plot of this book includes something for everyone. It has action, romance and even something to laugh about. Still, there isn't happening a lot, but it didn't really matter to me, because the romance just totally made the story epic to me. And I don't even like romance :o

The plot of this story is nothing very special, but the way the story is told was just so good, that you could race through the pages. The story is almost poetic, and since some parts of Sam's POV are including song lyrics, they become even more poetic ^^ Too bad that it was impossible to translate it right :c Go English!

final thoughts:A an amazing book filled with romance, some werewolves and important stuff about low temperatures in the colder part of America that is every teenage girls' dream

first thoughts:First of all I want to thank Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for giving me to oppotunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review. I devoured it! I had never read any of Julie Kagawa's books before, but this book made me realise that I seriously needed to start this series! Beautiful cover!

the book:In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

my review:

This book was definitely worth the anticipation! I couldn't really find anything I completely disliked in this book. Great characters, great plot, great writing style, beautiful cover. Oh, now I know what I didn't like. The wait for the next book... Cliffhanger alert!

Allie is a new YA heroine. She kicks butt and is a hot vampire chick. Amazing, right? She has to become the thing she despises most, or die. And her choice to become somthing she hates shows that she's a fighter, she won't give up. Also, it shows that she is a survivor. Allie is a great role model, smart, great sense of humor, very human -even though that's impossible for her- and no fear of what's coming. The other characters were amazing, too. They're looking for Eden, the 'holy' city where you can live without the vamps, and are very religious. They believe in a world without vampires, a better world. I loved Zeke, even though some of his actions really pissed me off...But everyone makes mistakes, right?

The plot with had many interesting turns to keep it a nice and anything-but-boring read, even though it was almost 500 pages. The dystopian world displayed in this is horrifying. A world ruled by vampires, and with crazy zombie-like monsters with vampire powers lurking around every corner of the abandoned streets, trying to grab you and eat you? No thanks! Then I'd prefer to live in a world like we live in now! I start to see a pattern in all YA distopia I read, Lots of horrible futures in which the way of living seems to be returning to the way the people lived around 1700-1900. Lack of technology, lack of food and a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Not that I don't like it, just that I always thought dystopia should be great, and amazing, so that people want to live in the future, or invent the future. *I was a few years younger and many books earlier when I thought that way*

Vampires get a whole new image in this book. They are displayed as kings, rulers of the world, but also as nice people, who don't like to drink blood, but just have to do that in order to survive. These new vampires were very interesting, altough they didn't win it from Stoker's dracula. No vampire can win it from Dracula.

A wonderful new series filled with action, romance, hard decisions and blood-red tears, with a new heroine that every reader will love.

4/16/2012

Hey everyone! I'm not sure if you all have heard of the book 'Taste' before. It's a Young Adult Paranormal Romance book that I really anticipate. Look at the super exiting and beautiful cover and the blurb of the book below :) Taste is written by Kate Evangelista and will be published in May 2012 by Crescent Moon Press.

At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.

When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.

This cover really is one of my favourites of 2012, and the book sounds fantastic! So when the author of the book contacted me and asked if I would join the book trailer reveal and excerpt reveal of Taste, I said I was honoured to do so.

Today I have a very interesting and exiting excerpt for you, and an amazing book trailer, so let's go on to that part ^^

I will post one of the 2 excerpts that are available, for the other one you should check out another blog. Find the list of the blogs participating in this event on www.kateevangelista.com

After reading the 2 excerpts I decided that this one was my favorite, and I was very impressed by the nice writig style. Enjoy reading it!

the excerpt:

I mentally stomped
on the intimidation their perfection brought into my mind and said, “Excuse
me.”

The group froze,
startled by my words. The girls had their brows raised and the boys stopped
mid-speech, mouths agape. They stared at me with eyes the shade of onyx stones.

I smiled and gave
them a little wave.

The boy a step
ahead of the rest recovered first. His stunning features went from shocked
surprise to intense interest. He reminded me of a hawk eyeing its prey. I
gulped.

“A Day Student,”
he said, his eyes insolent and excited.

Something about
the way he said “Day Student” made my stomach flip. “Excuse me?”

They snickered.
The boys looked at each other while the girls continued to stare, muffling
their laughter by delicate hands. I seemed to be the butt of some joke.

“You broke the
rule.” The boy’s grin turned predatory.

The students
formed a loose semi-circle in front of me. My gaze darted from face to face.
Hunger filled their eyes. The image of lions about to chase down a gazelle came
to mind. I mentally shook my head. I was in the mountains not the Serengeti for
crying out loud.

I took a small
step back and cleared my throat. “Can any of you give me a ride back to the
dorms?”

The boy wagged his
forefinger like a metronome. “Ah, that’s unfortunate for you.”

One of the girls
pinched the bridge of her nose. “Eli, you can’t possibly—”

“It’s forbidden,
Eli,” another boy interrupted, pronouncing the word “forbidden” like a curse.

The nervous murmur
at the pit of my stomach grew louder. Six against one. Not good odds. Instinct
told me to cut my losses and run. Bad enough I faced expulsion, now it seemed
like weird, beautiful people who’d suddenly appeared on campus wanted to beat
me up. No, scratch that. Judging from the way they studied me, beating me up
wouldn’t satisfy them. Something more primal prowled behind their looks.

I definitely
wasn’t going down without a fight. Years of self-defense and hand-to-hand
combat classes had me prepared. While other children from rich and important families
got bodyguards, I got defense training. But I think my father meant for my
skills to go up against potential kidnappers, not against other students who
may or may not be crazy. Oh God! Maybe I stepped into a parallel universe or
something when I reentered Barinkoff.

“None of the
students are supposed to be on campus,” I said. Then, realizing my mistake, I
added, “Okay, I know I’m not supposed to be here either. If one of you gives me
a ride back to the dorms, I won’t say anything about all this. Let’s pretend
this never happened. I didn’t see you, you didn’t see me.”

He’d said “Night
Students” like the words were capitalized. I didn’t know Barinkoff held classes
at night. What was going on here?

Eli smiled with
just one side of his mouth and said to the group, “She’s right, no one will
have to know. We’re the only ones here. And it’s been so long, don’t you
agree?”

The rest of them
nodded reluctantly.

“What’s been so
long?” I challenged. I fisted my hands, ready to put them up if any of them so
much as twitched my way.

“Since the taste
of real flesh passed through my lips,” Eli said. He came forward and took a
whiff of me then laughed when I cringed.

“Flesh.” Yep,
parallel universe.

“Yes,” he said.
“And yours smells so fresh.”

Someone grabbed my
shoulders from behind and yanked me back before I could wrap my mind around the
meaning behind Eli’s words. In a blink, I found myself behind someone tall.
Someone really tall. And quite broad. And very male.

I realized he wore
the same clothes Eli and the other boys did. Not good. He was one of them.
Although… I cocked my head, raking my gaze over him. He seemed born to wear the
uniform, like he was the pattern everyone else was cut from. My eyes wandered
to long, layered, blue-black hair tied at the nape by a silk ribbon. Even in
dim light, his hair possessed a sheen akin to mercury.

I looked down. The
boy’s long fingers were wrapped around my wrist like a cuff. His fevered touch
felt hotter than human standards, hot enough to make me sweat like I was
standing beside a radiator but not hot enough to burn.

“I must be
mistaken, Eli,” the boy who held my arm said in a monotone. “Correct me. Did I
hear you say you wanted to taste the
flesh of this girl?”

A hush descended
on us. It had the hairs at the back of my neck rising. How was it possible for
the atmosphere to switch from threatening to dangerous? Unable to help myself,
I peeked around the new guy’s bulk. Eli and his friends bowed. They all had
their right hands on their chests.

“Demitri, I’m sure
you misheard me,” Eli said.

So the guy
standing between me and the person who said he’d wanted to taste me was named
Demitri. I like the sound of his name. Demitri. So strong, yet rolls off the
tongue. Definite yum factor.

“So, you imply I
made a mistake?” Demitri demanded.

“No!” Eli lifted
his gaze. “I did no such thing. I simply wanted to show the girl the
consequences of breaking curfew.”

“Hey!” I yelled.
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!”

Demitri ignored my
protest and continued to address Eli. “So, you threatened to taste her flesh.”
His fingers tightened their grip around my wrist. “In the interest of
investigating this matter further, I invoke the Silence.”

All six students
gasped, passing surprised glances at one another.

Before I could ask
about what was going on, Demitri yanked me down the hall toward the library.
But why there? Oh, maybe we were getting my things. No, wait, he couldn’t have
known about that. Everything was too confusing now.

Eli and the others
didn’t try to stop us when we passed them. Demitri’s cold command must have
carried power. Handsome and powerful,
never a bad combination on a guy.

We reached the
heavy double doors in seconds. He jerked one open effortlessly. I’d needed all
my strength just to squeeze through that same door earlier. To him, the thick
wood might as well have been cardboard. I raised an eyebrow and mentally listed
the benefits of going to gym class.

“Why are we here?”
I asked after my curiosity overpowered my worry. I’d almost forgotten how
frightened I’d been right before Demitri showed up. I wasn’t above accepting
help from strangers. Especially from gorgeous dark-haired strangers with hot
hands and wide shoulders.

Demitri kept
going, tugging me along, snaking his way deeper into the library. I had to take
two steps for every stride his legs made. I tried to stay directly behind him,
praying we didn’t slam into anything.

He stopped
suddenly and I collided with him. It felt like slamming into a wall.

“Hey,” I said,
momentarily stunned. “A little warning would be nice!”

He faced me, and I
gasped. His eyes resembled a starless night, deep and endless. Their intensity
drilled through me without pity, seeming to expose all my secrets. I felt naked
and flustered beneath his gaze.

“You could have
died back there,” he warned.

A lump of panic
rebuilt itself in my throat.

Amazing, right?

And now ... ... ... The book trailer! Hope you all like it! I did :)

author info:

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing. Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing. Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.

4/15/2012

In my mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @The Story siren in which we show the books we recieved over the last week.

*links go to the goodreads page of the book*

This week I recieved some great books. let's start with the library booksForgotten - Cat Patrickthis book looked so great, and I've wanted to read it for a while now. Then I saw a Dutch translation in the library and I just couldn't resist and took it with me. I would prefer to read it in English, of course, but Dutch is fine with me, too.The birth of a killer - Darren ShanI have read the whole 12-book saga of Darren Shan, and I decided that I also wanted to read the saga of Larten Crepsley. So let's hope this saga is as good as the other one ^^

4/14/2012

first thoughts:After reading 'The Future of us' and loved Jay Asher's way of writing, I knew for sure that everyone was right about his talent for writing, so when I stumbled upon a copy of 13 reasons why in my library I picked it up, and read it in one breath. Or at least, I would have, if that were possible... :)

the book: Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

review:

Oh. My. Gosh. This book is so good!

The main character in this book, Clay, is so greatly developed. His emotions are realistic, he seems like a great guy, and he actually appears to be human and have a heart thumping in his chest. He is a great friend to everyone that gives him a chance to be a friend, he's the good guy. He's the one you can always call, and who will never let anyone hurt you. So what would happen to this good guy that cares about you after you commit suicide? Will he be lost without her? Or will he just move on with his life?

Then there is the other character, Hannah. She's dead, but I just kept on forgetting that. On her tapes she seemed so much alive it was almost terrifying. And all the things that happened to her just kept on making me cry, get angry, and even smile at some points.How could all of that happen to someone?!

The story is told by Hannah and Clay. It's Clay who listens to Hannah's memories. The combination of her memories and the way they made Clay feel was just so wonderfu! I have never read a book that was written in this way that was so good!

The book is about suicide, a subject way more books should be written about, because there are still way too many teens that decide to end their lives. And, here, in the Netherlands, there rests a stigma on the subject suicide, I have no idea how it's in the other parts of the world, but here there is. And books like this could change that!

The writing style of Jay Asher is terrific. That's what actually made me want to read this book in the first place, his writing style. And, for a debut novel, I think his way of writing is even astonishing. I get that authors change and improve their writing styles after a little time, but his shouldn't change at all!

A book that touched me, a lot, and that will be one of my favourites forever! A recommender for every teen, a realistic and heartbreaking tragedy filled up with a lot of humor.

4/12/2012

first thoughts:Holy crap I love this series, even though it horrifies me. I reviewed part 4 of the series. you can view it HERE. This series definitely isn't for the ones that throw up often, and if you do you might want to keep a bucket to puke in close to you... *no, just exaggerating a lot, if you survived part 4 in the series you will be OK with this part*

the book: It's been one year since all the adults disappeared. Gone. (#1)

Despite the hunger (#2) and the lies (#3), even despite the plague (#4), the kids of Perdido Beach are determined to survive. Creeping into the tenuous new world they've built, though, is perhaps the worst incarnation yet of the enemy known as the Darkness: fear.

Within the FAYZ, life breaks down while the Darkness takes over, literally—turning the dome-world of the FAYZ entirely black. In darkness, the worst fears of all emerge, and the cruelest of intentions are carried out. But even in their darkest moments, the inhabitants of the FAYZ maintain a will to survive and a desire to take care of the others in their ravaged band that endures, no matter what the cost.

my review:

zillions of spoilers if you haven't read #1-4 in this series. Impossible to review without any spoilers for those books. SORRY

Well, immidiately after starting reading this book, one of my main questions about this series was answered. There was still life outside the FAYZ. But also, that answer made me have tons of more questions that are in despate need of an answer.

The characters in this series improve again. I have no idea how Michael Grant keeps his characters so realistic :o It feels as if you're with the characters in the FAYZ. and that's a terrifying feeling. Really, I'd rather live on the North Pole for the rest of my life, or anywhere, than live in the FAYZ for one week, or even one day. In this book there were some new characters introduced, and other ones disappeared and / or died. And of course it hurt me when anyone died, no matter how they died. I just don't like to see characters I have read about and loved from the first part of the series die... Also, all of the characters *and by that I mean ALL of them* changed so much between #4 and #5 in the series, it was almost impossible to 'recognise' them. So this was not character development, but complete transformation of the characters. It annoyed me in the first chapters, but fell in love / hated *in a good way* the new characters quickly.

The plot of this book contains an abundance of unpredictable twists, too keep it more interesting than it already was, which made the book even more perfect. The story was, again, told with the times underneath the chapters. *chapter 1, 65 hours, 11 minutes* and there were some 'Outside' chapters, in which you find out a little more of the horrible thruth of the FAYZ.

Then there was the Gaiaphage, which was still trying to take over the world with a terrifying huge amount of power. and oh my god, what the hell is he doing?!

The writing style of Michael Grant is one of the things that makes this book unique. He writes from multiple points of views *and with multiple I mean that there were over 10* without making it hard to understand the book. It's just a book you're flowing through. The pace of this story was above average, but again, that's one of the things that belongs with this series. A lot of things should happen in a little amount of pages.

I compare this book to the Hunger Games very often. Maybe because I bought the hunger games at the same time I bought Gone #1, or maybe just because I think they're both great series, but I think that every hunger games fan will love the gone series! So if you need to read a hunger games-like book I think this one would be a great choice. *this isn't dystopia*

final thoughts

A great story, with so many plot twists that kept on surprising me. A definite must for every Hunger Games fan. Even if you don't like Sci-fi, you'll love the gone series, mark my words!

(and OMG the ending, Light (#6) is one of my most anticipated books of 2013! Can't waiit)